Maggie Gyllenhaal is the niece (on her mother's side) of uber leftist (and probably proto Communist) Columbia University history professor Eric Foner so the apple did not fall far from the tree.

I must disagree with you, Debbie. Its one thing to avoid exposing kids to senseless violence. Its another thing to fill their heads with liberal pacifist mush that all violence in and of itself is a bad thing. There are times when the only way evil can be destroyed is to simply kill the bad guys and parents need to explain that to their children. We all hope and pray for a world in which the Hebrew prophets dreamed nations would turn their swords into plowshares and would not wage war anymore. One day that will happen, G-d willing. But until that day comes, a free people must be prepared to use force for resist those who would destroy them and to defend their free way of life. Freedom comes with a cost and our kids need to be aware that sometimes violence does lead to a morally desirable outcome.

[NF: I HEAR YOU. BUT THIS ISN'T THE SAME THING. NO, THE VIOLENCE IS COMMITTED BY THE CRIMINALS IN THIS MOVIE. NOT THE SAME THING. KILLING FOR MONEY AND EVIL IS WRONG, AND THIS MOVIE PROMOTES IT, AS WELL AS DISFIGUREMENT. DS]

I agree with you 100% concerning Christian Bale, Debbie.

I never paid that much attention to him until (and thanks to your review) I saw "The Prestige."

As for the violence, seems I read somewhere Frank Miller of "Sin City" and "300" fame was involved in this movie, too. If so, that would explain the violence.

Agree totally about the HF Museum. We took Amtrak there and stayed at HF's Dearborn Inn across the street. Everyone had a great time. The Oscar Meyer Weiner Wagon Christmas ormanement we got there reminds us of it every year when we put the tree up.

No disagreement there. I'm absolutely opposed to senseless violence to make money off it and just disfigurement for no reason. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I wouldn't take my kids to a movie that was full of random, mindless violence. Its not normal nor should it be a part of life. We all have the dark side inside us but by obeying G-d, we can avoid coming to grief. In our secular society, its getting harder to draw the line. Good and evil usually do have one and there's no excuse for the way Hollywood pushes violence in the way it does to rake in profits. I'm all for free enterprise but even that has to have some limits.

[Another drawback is the starring role of Maggie Gyllenhaal ... who said American deserved and is to blame for the 9/11 attacks.]

Ok, but as an actress, was she any good in this movie?

[I had to laugh when the Joker repeatedly tells Gyllenhaal how beautiful she is.
Clearly, the Joker needs to get his eyes checked.]

You're obviously not a guy, Deb.

Deb is correct. Gyllenhaal is as homely as a church mouse. I thought Eric Foner was her mothers ex-husband. Either way, terrible leftist/Marxist-Leninism in that family.

I watched a two-minute clip of this movie and, to be honest, don't understand what the big deal is about Heath Ledger. I've seen a few of his movies (but not Brokeback Mountain, since the idea of two guys getting friendly doesn't appeal to me), and don't really understand why people like to elevate him. To me, he's the 2008 version of River Phoenix--a so-so actor who through his own act of stupidity with drugs will become immortalized.

Thanks Debbie, for looking out for families with kids. The previous movies were marketed toward families and all assumptions are that this one would be family friendly also.

I saw the movie yesterday too and I didn't find it overly violent. Lots of stuff gets blown up and the bad guys get what's coming to them. There are lots of cool effects but the ending was ambiguous, like they were planning a sequel.

Just saw her on a cover of a womens mag and pointed out that Gylenugly was misplaced and put on that cover. Me personally, I won't go to any movie with her bro or his beau Ledger after the worst cowpoke movie of all time.

I agree with your assessment of Maggie Gyllenhaal-- both inside and out. What I wonder is why they did not resign Katie Holms for the role. While I question her judgment and often her acting ability, she held the role in the first movie-- not to mention she was better looking too.

I agree that the movie is violent and heavily marketed to children. Why any parent would allow a young child to see this movie (considering the mature themes of Batman Begins) is beyond me. However, how is this different than any other action movie that has come out in the last 20 years? At least the message is good, and it can be a teaching example for older children that bad men really do exist.

Did you just call Maggie Gyllenhaal homely? That's kind of the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it? I suppose this isn't the first instance of you having double standards.

Example: As you pointed out, because Barack's middle name is Hussein, he's clearly a terrorist, which I guess would make you a Nazi, Ms. Schlussel.

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